Doug Clifford and Stu Cook Offer Their Side of the Latest Creedence Clearwater Revival Lawsuit

John Fogerty has characterized the lawsuit recently filed against him by his surviving former Creedence Clearwater Revival bandmates as an effort to “stop me … from singing my songs,” but plaintiffs Stu Cook and Doug “Cosmo” Clifford see things differently, and they’re going public with their side of the story.

Cook and Clifford, who filed suit along with the widow of Fogerty’s brother Tom, have issued a rebuttal to Fogerty’s press release by putting out one of their own, which vows to “set the record straight” and clear up their former partner’s “inaccurate statements in the media regarding pending litigation” — chiefly by rejecting the notion that they’d ever try and stop him from performing Creedence songs.

“We have never objected to John Fogerty performing any song he ever wrote, or performing any song recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival. That idea is ridiculous,” reads the press release in part. “Even when he refused to play those songs, and publicly called for a boycott of CCR music, we encouraged him to perform them whenever and wherever he wanted. The facts are that Mr. Fogerty, while proclaiming joyful rebirth in the press, repeatedly has his lawyers threaten us with lawsuits and demand unreasonable concessions of our rights. Last week, the threats and demands left us with little doubt that a lawsuit would be filed by him against us for the second time. This unfortunate situation required us to take unpleasant preemptive legal action. This action is about the need to defend ourselves and rights, Mr. Fogerty’s failure to perform contractual promises and unlicensed uses of the trademark ‘Creedence Clearwater Revival.’ The trademark is not owned by him, but by the Creedence Clearwater Revival Partnership. We have a business relationship with him and, under prevailing circumstances, chose not to be bullied.”

The longstanding antipathy between Fogerty and the other members of Creedence is a matter of public record, dating back to disagreements over artistic control during the group’s heyday and continuing for decades. Fogerty famously refused to perform with Clifford and Cook when CCR were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and their later decision to form a group called Creedence Clearwater Revisited added to the rancor. No matter how this latest round shakes out, we see plenty of billable hours in the future for both sides’ legal teams.

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